Door-actuating mechanism for general-service cars.



D. HINDAHL.

DOOR ACTUATlNG MECHANISM FOR GENERAL SERVICE CARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY5, 1913.

1,178,012. Patented A r. 4, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

n. HINDAHL. 000R ACTUATING MECHANISM FOR GENERAL SERVICE CARS.

Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET-l.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5 I913.

,3 772.2 iz (or UNITED- STA' 1 E S PATENT OFFICE.

I DAVID HINDAHL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

.ASSIGNOR TO NATIONAL DUMP CAR COM- PANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ACORPORATION OF MAINE.

DOOR-ACTUATING MECHANISM FOR GENERAL-SERVICE CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lmown that I, DAvin HINDAHL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Actuating Mechanismfor General-Service Cars, of which the following is a specificaton.

My invention relates in general to freight cars, and more particularlyto door actuating mechanism for freight cars of the type known asgeneral service cars.

The practicability of general service cars depends largely upon theefficiency of the mechanism for operating the drop doors which form theprincipal part of the car floor. It is essential that the operatingmechanism should tightly close the doors to prevent leakage of thelading; should socurely support the doors in. closed posltlon so as toavoid accidental dumping of the lad ing; and should permit the droppingof the doors to discharge the lading. I It is further essential that thedoor operating mechanism should be strong and durable in constructionand at the same time simple in operation. The object of my invention isto provide an improved operating mechanism for the drop doors of freightcars, which will possess the desirable .characteristics above 'referredto.

My invention will bemore fully disclosed hereinafter with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which the same is illustrated as embodiedin a convenient and practical form, and in which Figure 1 is a sideelevational view of a portion of one end of a freight car, parts thereofbeing broken away; Fig. 2, a detail plan view taken on line 22, Fig. 1;Fig. 3, an end elevational view, parts being broken away, Fig. 4, anenlarged cross sectional view on line 41, Fig. 1, showing the door inopen position; Fig. 5, a detail sectional view showing the door liftedinto partiallyclosed position; and Fig. 6, a view similar to Fig. 5,showing the door completely closed and supported in closed position.

The same reference characters are used to designate the same parts inthe several figures of the drawings.

Reference letter A indicates the center sill, which may be of anysuitable construction, such, for instance, as of the box girder type.

B indicates the front sill of the car, and C one of the cross bearers ortransverse mempivotally supported by hinges G upon the' center sill. Thedoor F is adapted to be swung upwardly about its inner edge into aclosed position flush with the plane of the floor of the car, or to beswung downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 4.

H designates a fixed floor strip which overl1es the transverseunderframe member C and pro ects on the opposite sides thereof so as toform stops against which the adjacent side edges of the adjacent doorsengage when closed.

A car of the construction above described is one well-known and does notin itself embody my invention, but is merely illustrated and describedin order that the construction and operation of myimproved dooractuating mechanism may be fully disclosed.

It will be obvious that my invention may be applied to cars of otherspecific constructions than that above described.

Supported by the transverse members C of the underframe is alongitudinal rotary shaft L connected by means of chains N with theswinging edges of the drop doors F. The shaft L may be convenientlysupported upon the outer ends of the transverse members of theunderframe beneath the inwardly inclined portion a of the overlying carside.

K designates a semi-circular bearing surrounding the shaft L above eachof the transverse members of the underframe so as to rotatably supportthe shaft thereon.

The ends of the chains N may be conveniently connected to the doors bymeans of screw threaded eye-bolts n which are adjustably secured to abracket 0 rigidly fastened beneath the door adjacent its swinging edge,one of such brackets being provided adjacent each side edge of the doorso that each door may be operated by two chains N. Each bracket 0 may beconveniently secured to a longitudinal Z-beam F shown in dotted lines inFig. 1, which extends beneath each door adjacent its side edge to impartstrength thereto.

P designates a second longitudinal shaft rotatablv uDDorted upon theends oi the transverse members of the underframe and preferably beneaththe inwardly inclined portion 6 of the overlying car side. The bearingbrackets K which retain the shaft L on the ends of the transverse beamsC may also be extended to overlie the shaft P, as shown in Fig. 2. lheend of the shaft P which projects beyond the end sill B of the car ismade square, as shown at p, to be engaged by a lever for impartingrotary motion to the shaft.

Q designates a ratchet wheel fixed to the end of the shaft P adjacentthe outer surface of the end sill B with which cooperates a pawl g toretain the shaft P in any positions to which it may be oscillated. Ayoke R is non-rotatably secured to the shaft P adjacent each side edgeof each door. The yoke R preferably comprises a sleeve which surroundsand is clamped to the shaft P and depending links between the lower endsof which is supported an anti-friction roller S. in alinement with eachof the yokes R is a bracket T fixed to the edge of the door preferablyby underlying and be ing secured to the end of the adjacent reinforcingZ-beam F. A lug Z is formed on each bracket '1 and projects beyond theedge of the door in position to extend between the depending links H, Rof the adjacent yoke R and to rest upon the roller S carried thereby.

The operation of my improveddoor actuating mechanism is as follows: iVhen the doors are in the open position shown in Fig. 4 and it isdesired to close them, a suitable lever is applied to the squared end Zof the shaft L to impart rotary motion thereto and to thereby wind thechains hi thereon. A pawl m pivotally mounted on the end sill Bcooperates with a ratchet wheel M on the end of the shaft L to retainsuch shaft in the positions to which it may be rotated and therebysupport the doors in the positions to which they have been lifted by thewind ing of the chains N on the shaft. When the doors are elevated tothe position shown in Fig. 5, the lug t engages the roller S and therebyoscillates the yoke R outwardly so as to permit the door to becompletely closed, as shown in Fig. 6. When the door is completelyclosed, the lug t is in a position immediately above the roller S. Theshaft P is then oscillated by applying a suitable lever to the squaredend 79 thereof so as to swing the several yokes R inwardly and therebylocate the rollers S beneath the respective lugs 25 on the doors. Itwill be observed that the under surface of each of the lugs t ispreferably curved upwardly so as to facilitate the inward movement ofthe cooperating roller S beneath the same, such movement of the rollerbeneath the lug also serving to tightly wedge the door closed andcompensate for any slight differences in the length of the two chains Nconnected to each door.

When it is desired to open the doors and permit the discharge of thelading, the pawl Q is disengaged from the ratchet wheel Q, and the shaftP then oscillated in a direction to swing the lower ends of the severalyokes R outwardly, thereby removing the rollers S from beneath therespective lugs t.

The disengagement of the pawl m from the readily actuated by theordinary unskilled cars.

I claim:

1. In a freight car, the combination with a drop door in the floorthereof, of a rotary shaft, means operatively connecting said shaft anddoor to efiect the closing movement of the door when said shaft isrotated, a lug projecting beyond the swinging edge laborer employed forunloading freight of said door and having an outwardly and upwardlycurved under surface, a rock shaft extendingtransversely to the path ofmovement of said door, and a door support nonrotatably secured to saidrock shaft and comprising radial spaced members between the free ends ofwhich a roller is carried,

whereby when the door is closed and the rock shaft oscillated the radialmembers of said support will straddle said lug and support its curvedunder surface upon said roller.

2. In a freight car, the combination with an underframe comprisingtransverse and longitudinal members, of a plurality of drop doors in thefloor of said car, a rotary shaft journaled upon the ends of the transverse members of the underframe, means operatively connecting said shaftand doors to effect the closing of the doors when said shaft is rotated,a pair of lugs projecting outwardly from the swinging edge of each door,each lug having an outwardly and upwardly curved under surface, a rockshaft mounted upon the ends of the transverse members of the underframeadjacent said rotary shaft, and door supports projecting radially fromand non-rotatably secured to said rock shaft, each of said supportscomprising a pair of radial members between which is carried a roller,whereby when said rock shaft is oscillated one of said supports willengage each .ef said lugs and effect the means being arranged to coactwith said lug member to support said door in closed position,' said lugmember being constructed and 15 arranged to move said supporting meansout of its path of travel during closing movement of said door.

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name.

DAVID HINDAHL. Witnesses HENRY A. PARKS, ANNA L. WALTON.

